Page 14 of Midnight Kisses

If this is in regards to the skincare products that were in the bathroom, these were not sanctioned by Momentum Events or associated with us in any way. We’ve received multiple messages about these and I am assuring our valued guests that this matter will be resolved when I return to New Zealand on the 1st of February. Until then: nga mihi, Ginger.

“Well fuck you too, Ginger,” I muttered.

I was going to reply with a push for a better answer, but a message from Sadie dropped over my screen containing further intel on my situation. It wasn’t in my best interest to chastise her for spending her workday this way, so I didn’t.

I did some research and Momentum is contracted for all the events at the Sky Tower. You should just go to another one and see if your girl is working. Buy yourself a ticket, or buy some tickets for Elysian. I’ll come, I’m dying to see this woman for myself.

I had only just started my reply when Sadie’s next message came through.

There’s a masquerade cocktail party at the Sky Tower this Saturday. It’s a fundraiser for a local animal shelter. I’ve got the purchase window open. General Admission tickets are sold out, but there are VIP packages still available, which are sold in blocks of six tickets.

All the reasons this would be a bad idea were running through my head when Sadie messaged again.

I have your personal credit card details already entered. If you can’t find four friends, just invite people from work and I’ll send the invoice to accounts. Come on, Miles. Pull the trigger. Live, laugh, love.

After that another message came in, and another and another, all in quick succession.

DO IT.

Do.

It.

Doitdoitdoitdoitdoit.

Fine.

Making this an Elysian outing wasn’t an option because then my mother would want to come, but Sadie was right, I didn’t have five friends at this late notice. Matthew was my usual wingman, but he was out of town this month and I had a funny feeling that Blondie would hate him.

Invite any of your friends. I’ll cover their expenses.

There was no need to give Sadie my card, she had it. She probably had all of them. Remembering the look on Blondie’s face as she ran out of that bathroom, I would need a good wingperson. As a woman, Sadie would be a more impactful character endorsement than Matty—I was nothing if not a strategist.

My email dinged and the invoice and tickets arrived in my inbox from Sadie.This was good, this was progress. I only had to get through a few more sleepless nights and I’d see my mystery girl again.

Time couldn’t move fast enough.

CHAPTER 6

PERRY

I gotready for the masquerade party in the same bathroom I’d helped other people with their dresses and miscellaneous personal needs a few weeks ago. It was a satisfying symmetry.

Since it was a masquerade, I’d gone for all the trimmings. I had a slinky blue dress designed by a friend of mine, which was made from a luxurious satin that skimmed my curves, and I placed an elegant mask over my nose to cover my eyes. It wouldn’t be enough to stop someone like Ginger recognizing me, she wasn’t unobservant and my figure was very recognizable—but Ginger was living it up in Rarotonga right now. If any of tonight’s event staff had also worked New Year’s, they might recognise me, but they didn’t know I didn’t have a real ticket and I doubted they’d care if they did.

Still, my guilt over using the misappropriated access card nearly led me to chicken out multiple times. My friends—especially Tala, who saw this as a strike of retaliation on behalf of the working class—psyched me back up.

I arrived before any of the other guests and took my time primping in the bathroom, so the doughnut-shaped event roomwould be packed with people when I joined their fold. Once again, the temptation to leave my Perry Skin hand cream on the counter proved too much for me to resist. I told myself this was guerrilla marketing and it was what the professionals did, so I didn’t get an ulcer over distributing beauty products without the venue’s express consent. One day, when Perry Skin was on lists of Kiwi brands doing amazing things, the Sky Tower and Momentum Events would be thrilled to be part of our origin story.

As the rising sound of party chatter and clinking glasses drifted through the door, guests began to frequent the bathroom. That was my cue.

The event layout was similar to New Year’s Eve. The main difference was that some people wore masquerade masks, although many had skipped this. The lights were low and coloured LEDs flicked around the room, bouncing off the glass and spinning silver disco balls. The music was loud, as chosen by a DJ with comically large headphones. Per person tickets started in the hundreds, but I knew from working events like this that rich people felt little compunction about buying them and being a no show—they’d already spent their money, what did they care?—while other people bought blocks of tickets they never filled. There would definitely be space for me.

I assuaged my remaining guilt by donating half of my check from the New Year’s Party to the animal shelter tonight’s event was in aid of. It was a tiny donation in the scheme of the evening, but it was literally as much as I could afford and still make rent. True generosity was measured in proportion not number, and I wanted to do my best.

Once I was mixing and mingling, I expected to have to work hard to find people to talk to, but the moment I swept a glass of champagne from a proffered tray, a white woman with lacquered honey hair pulled me into conversation.

“Look at you, you gorgeous thing,wheredid you get that dress?”

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